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What is a piano chord?

Q. I'm trying to learn how to play piano, and I saw something called a piano chord. What exactly does that mean?

A. A piano chord is no different from a regular chord except that it's played...on the piano. By simplest definition, a chord is a group of at least three tones. This could be, for example, A C# E, which is the A major chord. Any less than that would be a single tone or interval, which doesn't really establish key. Any more than three notes would produce seventh chords (for example, A #C E G, which is the A 7th chord) ninth chords (A C# E G B), and so on, usually up to thirteenths in jazz music.

There are entire courses built on the study of chords, or tonality. If you're interested in pop or jazz chords, you might want to look into this lightweight guide:
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Chord-Dictionary-Handy-Guide/dp/0882841548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272218959&sr=8-1

Note that it takes an entire lifetime to learn about all the possible chords and their functions in music, to really get to know what role each chord plays and which chord falls in place most naturally and meaningfully in a piece of music. Chord identification and other purely theory-related exercises won't take all too long, though.

Good luck with your studies, and I hope you keep it up. :)

Original Question

How to play piano chords. HELP PLEASE!?
Q. So, I've been teaching myself to play the piano. (a thoroughly complicated task, but beside the point) And, well I've come across chords. I know that chords are pretty much a bunch of notes played together. But the question is what notes? The song I'm working on has the chords C, E, F, G, Dm7 (whatever that means) Am, (A minor, or something, I think) and a C/E (totally lost there). Help. Please!

A. Pianos are cool.

The chords C, E, F and G all follow the same pattern - start on the letter of the chord (e.g. C) then add the notes that are 4 keys up (including black keys) and then another 3 keys up from that. So for C chord, four keys up is E, and another 3 keys up is G. C, E and G make up the C chord. That's for a major chord.

The minor chord has the same first and last note - but the middle note is one less. So start with the chord note, then got up 3 keys for the middle note, then go up 4 keys fort he last note. For Am you would start on A, go up 3 keys to C, then go up 4 keys to E. (ACE). A major would be similar - but the middle key would be one higher - C#. (A C# E).

You can try this with any starting note.

There are lots of variations for chords. Dm7 for example, is just D minor (D, F, A) with the addition of a fourth note. Without getting into details, just at 3 more keys from the last note (A+3 = C). So Dm7 is D, F, A, C.

C/E is a different thing again. The notes are actually identical to the C chord - however instead of the C being the main sound of the chord, the E is made to sound more dominant. Just play a C chord (CEG) with the right hand, and add a single E note in the bass scale.

Original Question

How do you play piano chords??!!?
Q. I'm a beginner and teaching myself how to play Keyboard/Piano. I've borrowed so many books on the subject but can't figure out piano chords! My understanding is you play 3 notes at once - but its still confusing when looking at people play them on YouTube. Some music have just symbols like E, Dm, etc and lyrics??

Also, I'm trying to play this keyboard version of Hillsong's "This Is Our God" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1jZ1Ux9XOU). The chords listing is:

Intro-verse: E - G#m - C#m - A
Chorus:B - E/G# - A - F#mB/D# - E/G# - A
Instrumental - bridge:E - B - F#m - C#m - A - E (also in video description)

But I can't seem to get around what the left and right hand plays. Plus the video is too fast and unclear to work out the notes :(

Please could someone help me work out what notes to play/how to play them?
Basically, the user gave a list of chord names and I don't know what the left and right hand plays - also on some he doesn't hold 3 down, but alternates between a few!

Thanks

A. To play a piano chord, you need to find out which scale the chord belongs to. For example C chord would belong to the C major scale and Cmin chord would belong to the c minor scale. Lets use C chord as an example. We start off by playing the C note on the keyboard. Then, we miss a white not, but play the next one. We end up having one white note in between the notes we are playing. You should end up playing an E on a C major chord. Then we miss the next note after E, but play the one after that, G. That is a C or C major chord. However, when it comes to other chords we need to take in the key signature of the scale. C minor has an Eb in the key signature, so instead of playing C E G we play C Eb G. I know that probably made no sense so check out this very helpful website. http://www.8notes.com/piano_chord_chart/
I think you would benefit from piano lessons. A tutor can help you play the song and work out the chords. Hope I helped with my long-winded explanation!

Original Question




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Title : What is a piano chord?
Description : Q. I'm trying to learn how to play piano, and I saw something called a piano chord. What exactly does that mean? A. A piano chord is n...

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